Compassionate Friends To Hold Butterfly Release, Picnic At Park

Bereaved families, relatives and friends who have experienced the death of a child are invited to attend The Rim Country Compassionate Friends Butterfly Release and Picnic at noon, Aug. 28 at Green Valley Park. The event is in remembrance of all beloved children who have died.

The picnic begins at noon at Green Valley Park near the bandstand. It will be a time to gather together to socialize, to play, to be family, event organizers said.

There will be horseshoes, volleyball and other games. Families are asked to bring their favorite potluck dish or dessert. Rim Country Compassionate Friends will have burgers and hot dogs.

A butterfly release is planned for 1 p.m. There will be a short program of readings, poems, and music. Butterflies will be given to those in attendance.

The butterflies are inside a special box, kept sleeping until just prior to the release. It is an exciting and impressive sight as the boxes are opened and the butterflies take flight.

“A butterfly lights beside us like a sunbeam. And for a brief moment its glory and beauty belong to our world. But then it flies on again, and though we wish it could have stayed, we feel so lucky to have seen it,” Compassionate Friends said in a press release.

The butterfly release is not a time to mourn for our children who have died. It is a time to celebrate that they lived! Since early times the butterfly has symbolized renewed life. The Compassionate Friends has adopted the butterfly as one of its symbols and a sign of hope. For more information, contact Bill Knauss at (928) 978-1492.